Pella Iowa November 2-4 (If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much)

On October 31, my Grandma Esther (my dad's mom) passed away in Pella, IA. She was 86 years old, and she lived a dynamic life, raising a terrific family. My Grandpa Victor died when I was three years old, which means that she had been living without her life-mate for 28 years! I know she's really excited up in heaven to be with Grandpa again.

We found out Saturday, so that morning Graham and I bought reservations and left Sunday to be with the family for the Memorial service. My brother Andy called on his way down to Portland for a party with his girlfriend, and we made a reservation for him to fly along with me and Graham. I was very thankful for the extra set of hands (Andy can now sing the full song "Snuggle Puppy" - without even looking at the book!).

We missed Pat's presence, but I really felt like he was with us the entire time. Pat's sister, Amy, came up from Ames, Iowa, for the memorial service, which was really special. Her son, Ethan, is 8 weeks older than Graham, so it was neat to have the boys together again. Pat's family met Grandma at our wedding, and she really made an impression on the Rank clan. I know they'll miss my grandma too - they could tell she was a special lady.

On Sunday after celebrating her life, and eating the amazing food prepared for us by friends of the Iowa Bettger clan, we all went to the local football field to cheer the Pella Dutchmen to a dramatic win over the opposing team (34-7?). By we all, I mean, all my dad's brothers, his sister, and cousins who were in town. Even my Grandma's 88-year old brother from Hillsboro, OR, and 86-year old sister-in-law from Lodi, CA came along. There were ... let's count them ... 16 of us! 17 when you include Graham! What a cheering squad! It's here that I learned the new family slogan - "It's Better with a G!" Which is a way to explain how to spell our last name, "Bettger" - Better with a G - get it? I think the whole section we were sitting in got it, after my brother and my cousin Ryan yelled it several times!


Here are some pics of our time in Iowa. Graham picked up a sweatshirt to remember his valiant support of the Pella Dutch!



Andy read Moo Baa La La La to Graham during the 45-50 minutes we waited for the CREW to show up for our Portland flight! The second picture is my Great Aunt Toni with her Great Great Nephew!

Here are the two cousins!

Graham was a hit at the football game - he cried for a while during the first half, but once he fell asleep (before half-time), he was asleep until we hit the car after the game! I'm not sure what he's thinking/doing in that picture with Andy!


Those Pella Dutch know how to have fun!!